Ignition system.



a. L. LANG.

IGNITION SYSTEM. APPLIICATION FILED APR. 26, I916.

WITNESSES 3,; IN V EN TOR Q l G E Q GE L. Lima.

Patented Dec. 17,1918.

.GEORGE I1. LANG, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AS SIGNOR '10 SPLlITDORF ELEGTRIiCAL COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. I

IGNITION sYsrEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

Application filed April 26, 1918. Serial No. 93,605.

provide means for automatically opening.

the ignition circuit should the engine stop in such a position as to leave the ignition circuit closed, which would cause the battery to discharge through the primary of the induction coil with the possibility of burning the same up. I attain said object by means of a thermostatic device, preferably constructed of two dissimilar expansion elements having different coefiicients of expansion, around which, in my preferred form, iswound several turns of wire, usually of a special kind that is included in the primary circuit of the induction coil, taking in the interrupter or timer contact operated by the engine. When the engine in oper-' ation the amount of current flowing through the thermostatic coil is not suflicient to cause the coil to heat enough to act on the expansion elements, but should the engine be stopped with the timer contact closed then the increasediiow of current, which results due to only the ohmic resistance of the primary circuit, is suflicient to heat the expansion elements, causing the same tov expand in one direction thus closing a pair of contacts controlling an electro-magnetic device,

- which in turn 0 crates through the necessary members, so manually controlled, to open the circuit of the primary of the cod, should the operator forget to do thlslnmself. I

Another object of my inventionis to provide switching mechanism for my ignition system which is simple in form and easy to manufacture.

Other and further objects of my invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art,

after a study' of this specification takenin connection with the drawing attached thereto.

Inthe drawing, Figure 1 illustrates a side. elevation of my improved switching mechamsm wlth the cover remov'ed- Fig. 2 is a top plan View of Fig. 1 with the detent ary mature removed from the electro-magnetic device.

in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic arran ement of av preferred form of my ignition system.

Referring particularly to the details shown in the various views wherein like-numbers refer to corresponding parts, 1 is a base of insulating-material upon which is mounted the member 2 having upright legs 3 and 4. Pivotally' mounted to leg 4 is a detentv armature 5 adaptedto be acted on bythe electromagnets 6. Atta'ched'to the leg 4 is a piece 7 which passes through a slot in the detent 5 and having its end ,8 bent over to Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the cover adapted to fit over the switch shown;

act as a stop for the said detent 5. Pivotally mounted to the leg 3'is an 1.. shaped memher 9 having a resilient member 10 attached to the member 2 and operating on the mem her 9. to hold it in the position shown in full lines.- A contact 11 is carried by the upper arm-of the member 9'and this 0011;"

tact is adapted to co-act with the contact- 12 mounted on a spring l3,that isattached to the post 14. Attached to the'base 1 is a contact post 15 carryinga contact 16, also mounted on the base- 1 is a supporting bracket 17 to which is rigidly attached two expansion strips 18 and, 19 of dissimilar materials having different coeflicientsjof expansion. A contact 20 adapted-to cooperate With the contact- 16 .is'attached to the end of these strips. In mypreferred form said expansion strips are covered with insulation 21 of a suitable character, such as mica, and around the insulation is wound a 0011 .22 which is preferably aspecial resistance wire. The two strips 18 and 19 are capable of being put under more or 'less tension as.

regards their ability to move toward the end of the coil 22 is connected' tothe bind-- ing post 14 and the other end to-thetermie nal postl24. The two. coils 6 are connected in series,-one terminal being connected to terminalpost 25 and the other to the bracket 17 The cover 26 is designed .to fit over the base 1 being attached thereto in any suitable manner, and has a flange 27 formounting the switch on a mounting plate 'such as the contact 16 'byan adjusting screw'23. One

the detent. armature o description of the circuit arrangement shown in Fig. 4. In this figure, 31 is a cam operated in any suitable manner by the engine. The cam 34 co-acts with a lever 35 carrying contact 36 which in turn co-acts with an adjustable contact 37. 38 is an induction coil having a primary winding P.

and a secondary winding S, one end of which is grounded. and the other connected to the usual distributer for distributing the current from the secondary winding to the various cylinders of the engine. The distributor and sparking devices in the engine are old and well known and will not be fur ther described herein.

B illustrates a battery, or other source of direct current. one terminal of which is shown grounded at G.

Suppose it is desired to start the engine equipped with my ignition system. The button 28'is pushed in against the tension of the spring 39 until it hits against the shoulder stop 10. This movement of the push button 28 carries the plunger 31 downward against the leg 30 of the member 9 causing the member 9 to turn about its pivot-41 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. thus closing together the contact points 11 and 12. A circuit can now be traced from battery B through the primary P ot. the induction coil 38 to the member 9. contacts 11 and 12. coil 22 ot' the thermostatic device. through contacts 37 and 36 of the timer. if in closed position, member 35 to ground G common to battery B. The engine is now cranked in the usual manner and so long as it is kept in operation the circuit through the induction coil 38 will remain as above described. Should it be desired to stop the engine the ignition circuit may be opened by pushing the button 29. against the tension of spring 42 to the shoulder stop 43. This act will carry the plunger 32 againstpushing the same downward to the position shown in full lines. Fig. 1. As soon as the detent 5 is pushed downward out of the path of movement of member 9. the rcsilent member 10 will return the member 9 to its normal posit-ion shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 4. thereby opening theprimary circuit at the points 11 and 12. It will be noted that both the buttons 2S-and 29 are provided with shoulders which engage stops 40 and 43 on the cover 26 so that they cannot be pushed in only a fixed distance, thereby providing a fixed movement to the members 9 and 5 which they respectively engage. Should now for any reason, the engine be stopped without opening the primary of the ignition circuit as above described, and the engine stops so that the contacts 36 and 37 are in engagement, then there will be a relatively heavy current. flowing through the primary P of the induction coil 38 which would run battery B down and like enough burn out coil 88. This relatively heavy current passing through the resistance wire coil 22 causes the same to generate heat which acts on the expansion strips 18 and 19 causing them to expand so as to close the contacts 16 and 20. \Vhen this happens a circuit is formed from battery B through contacts 16 and 20, metal strips 18 and 19, bracket 17. coil 6. member 9, across contacts 11 and 12 through coil 22 and timer contacts 37 and 3G to ground side of battery G. The coils (3 will then be in multiple with the primary l of the coil 38 and the current in both multiple paths will pass through coil 22 which will thus gct the benefit of the current passing through electromagnet coils 6, thus making the movement of the thelino-clement quicker and more positive than it would be it the current for the electro-magnet did not pass through the thermo-coil. This current passing through the coils 6 will energize the same and pull the detent 5 downward out of the path of movement of member 9, which will return to its normal position. herein before described for the manual operation. As soon as the contacts 11 and 12 are open the thermostatic device returns to its normal position opening the contacts 16 and 20.

By my method of circuit connections. I avoid carrying the regular ignition currentthrough the expansion strips themselves. of the thermostatic device. I consider this an advantage as the thermostatic device is not so likely to operate and open the ignition circuit as I have found it does when the ignition current is carried through said strips, when running the engine at very low speed at which time the current through the primary of the induction coil is greatest due to the less number of breaks per second at the timer. and consequently a lower inductance in the primary of the coil; also the thermostatic device returns to its normal position quicker when the expansion strips themselves do not carry current and do not become heated thereby.

Instead of winding the heating coil around the expansion strips. I may arrange it in any satisfactory adjacent place. and it will be understood that various other changes and alterations can be made in the details of my switching mechanism without departing from the spirit. and scope of my invention.

ally movable member for closing a contact tomemos Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In an ignition system, the combination of a source of current, an induction coil, an interrupter, a thermostatic device having adjustable expansible elements carrying a contact and a heating coil electrically insulated therefrom, switching means having a manuswitch the first three mentioned elements and v the heating coil into a circuit, means for retaining a part of said switching means .in operative position when moved thereto, a second circuit normally excluding said expansible elements from the direct flow of current in the first circuit for the purpose described; said second circuit, including the interrupter, heating coil, switch contact, ergpansible elements and an electromagnet;

closed by said contact carried on the expansible element when said interrupter remains closed for an abnormal length of time, whereby said electromagnet acts positively on said retaining means to withdraw the same to allow that-part of the switching means controlling the manually operated contact common to both circuits to open the same as described.

2. In an ignition system, the combination of a source of current, an induction coil, an

interrupter, an adjustable thermostatic de- "vice having an expansible element and a directly on said holding means for moving the same from its holding position, whereby the resilient means may act on said concealed manually operated member to open said circuit.

3. In an ignition system, the combination of, a source of current, an induction coil, an interrupter, a thermostatic device having substantially parallel strips of material of different coefficients of expansion and a heating coil wound around said strips but not electrically connected thereto, a switch having a manually operated member for switching the first three mentioned elements and the heating coil into circuit, a detent for holding said manually operated member in operated position, an electro-magnetic means brought into operation through said strips by the action of said coil thereon for withdrawing said deteut from the path of movement ofsaid manually operated member when said interrupter remains closed for an abnormal period of time and resilient means acting on said manually operated member to move the same to opencircuit position. 5 n

4. In an ignition system, the combinatibn' of, a source of current, an induction coil, an interrupter, a thermostatic device having. a heating coil as one element thereof, a switching device having a movable member for switching said elements into circuit, a self returning push button to act on said movable member, a detent engaging said'movable member to hold same in closed position after being acted on .by said button and a second self returning push button to act .on

4 said detent to remove same from the path of movement of said'movable member and resilient means for returning said movable member to open circuit position.

In witness whereof, I afiix my signature;

GEORGE L. LANG. 

